I am a better fan than you are

Do you know how Madge is from The Hunger Games?Simon from City of Bones has, um, brown eyes.Edward from Divergent lost an eye.Max from The Book Thief wanted to be a boxer, actually.Didn’t Patrick from The Perks of Being a Wallflower paint the shop-class tools pink…Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actually has NO father.Fenoglio in Inkheart has a bunch of grandchildren.There are FOUR Banks children in Mary Poppins.The fox doesn’t say anything in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.ANNABETH IS A BLONDE, OKAY? A BLONDE.

And wait there’s more:

– I own ALL the books in The Certain Series.– I’ve tweeted with the author.– I’ve met the author.– I own the original edition of the book.– I read the book before it was popular.– I have a nerdy book-slogan tee-shirt.– I draw fanart.– I write fanfiction.– I have a tumblr devoted to Certain Series.– I own it in hardback, paperback and e-copy.– I know ALL the names of the secondary characters.

Are we good now? Can we just all agree that I’m a BETTER fan than you because I am so much more dedicated?

Oh my gosh. Are we done yet?

Please. My brain hurts.

I want to admit, right now, that I am a horrible fan. I’ve committed more fan-taboos then is acceptable to even talk about. I barely remember books I’ve read. Heck, I don’t remember how The Raven Boys ended, or all the things that happened in The Fault in Our Stars. I couldn’t remember who Johanna was in Divergent. (I had to google it!) I haven’t even read all the Harry Potter books.

I have MISSPELLED MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR’S NAME LIVE ON THE INTERNET.

I’m a horrible fan. I need to find a hole and bury myself.

It makes me feel bad when people pitch themselves as “more dedicated”. Yes, some people are more dedicated. Heck, some people get fan-flavoured tattoos. There is no way I would inflict pain upon my precious skin just because I admire a book quote. My pain threshold is basically — I scream before it happens.

But the whole “I know who Madge Undersee is so therefore I’m a better fan then you” or the “I read the book BEFORE it was a movie” — it’s just kind of petty, don’t you think?

Um, Guilty Cait over here. I watched The Book Thief, Inkheart, and City of Bones before I read the book.

But I am (in my way) passionate about my fandoms. Oh gosh am I passionate! I have whole boards on Pinterest dedicated to The Hunger Games and Divergent and DFTBA. I cried watching the TFIOS trailer. I own an Avengers tee-shirt. I talk and talk and talk obsessively about my fandoms until my family groan and threaten to shove socks in my mouth.

Yet, I still kind of fail, don’t I? If we’re going to be picky.

What’s my point? Yes, yes, points are good. I just honestly think that pitching ourselves as “better fans” because (for instance: we read the book before the movie) is too big of a deal on the internet. Why is everything a competition? Why do we feel the need to be the BEST fan of all?

I will never be a proper Nerdfighter because I haven’t watched all the Vlogbrothers clips and I don’t follow John Green’s tumblr, and I DON’T get all the jokes. I don’t even want to call myself a Nerdfighter because I don’t feel qualified. But I love the fandom (can I call it a fandom? I’m not even sure!).

What does it really mean to be a fan?

Go on. You tell me.

Cait devotes a lot of time and energy and passion into anticipating the next X-Men movie. Hellloooo. Days of Future Past. ALL the actors of ever are going to be in it. But is she a real fan? Honestly? She hasn’t got the mutant-family-tree memorised. Besides fangirling, she’s been reading Prisoner of Night and Fog. Hitler is scary.

I have NO brain for details. When Mime finished reading TFIOS she was talking about these little detailed scenes and I’m just sitting there blankly, trying to look like I AM a fan. I am . I just…forget very easily. 😉

YES totally agreed with your post Cait! Why can’t we just all be equally devoted fans and just fangirl over things together instead of competing all the times? I think it’s slightly ridiculous as well, it’s okay to like something but you don’t need to show off. Awesome, awesome post as usual! x

Aw, thanks, Jeann! I was a little nervous of this one…hehe. It just makes me sad that there’s so many “levels” of being a fan. I mean, we’re all fangirling over the SAME thing, right?! Why must there then be levels of dedication as well?!

I have such a love/hate relationship with fandom. Love because I’ve seem some truly incredible things come out of fandom. Hate because of the sheer insanity that we’ve had to deal with from certain segments of the Buffy fandom over on Snark Squad (“You don’t like Spike? LET ME TELL YOU ALL THE REASONS WHY YOU’RE WRONG”). As a result, my attitude is very much one of fangirl over whatever you want to fangirl over, just don’t expect me to do the same. Sadly, people don’t always agree….

Humans are weird. You’d think they’d just see sense, but nooooo they insist on having their own opinions. *sigh* x) I LOVE fandoms. I love fangirling with other fans. I love talking for aaaaages about the ins and outs of a certain fandom. I don’t like feeling like an inferior fan, though, if I haven’t read ALL the books or something. I’m still a fan! I promise!

THANK YOU. Somebody said it! When people are all, “did you read that just because it got popular?” you know what I say? I say, “yep, I heard about it because it was popular, and I liked it. Sue me.” Not everyone is going to hear of books when they’re unpopular. I hate to say it but sometimes fandoms can be awful like that. By the way, if you want to be a Nerdfighter you already are one 🙂 on the Facebook group for Aussie Nerdfighters, some of them haven’t watched any of the videos or read any of John’s books – they just like what we’re about.

(Madge is the mayor’s daughter or something?? DING DING DING I win the Biggest Fan Award. Kidding. I just googled it because I couldn’t handle not knowing)

*hands Emily prize for Biggest Fan Award* Hehe…what gets me for THAT particular one is when people say “I love Madge”. No…you don’t. You only like her because people don’t know who she is. She didn’t hardly do anything!! I legitimately understand why they ditched her. She was kind of a dead end there. 😉 Bah… my little rant for the week, right? x)

I’m SO with you though! I DO read things because they’re popular! I don’t understand that “it’s popular so therefore I hate it”, because most of the time things DO get popular because they’re actual good. Or something. Or just appeal? Either way, I’ve only read a few “mega popular books” that haven’t lived up to expectations. Mostly they’re awesome.

Totally feeling you right now Cait! I mean can’t being a fan be as simple as you love the book, you shared it to others, even non bookish people, you tell people how awesome the book is, and influence others into sharing it to others as well. Can’t we all just be fans and not compare who is the best and be a happy big community? And let me just add, everyone has different preferences and bitchin’ someone just because that person had a different taste doesn’t make you a better fan.Awesome post.

YES! Why can’t we all just be the best fans and ride off into the sunset with our fandoms while eating chocolate? 😉 Like you said, everything is a competition, and this is definitely one of those cases. I think you’ve made a great deal of solid points, and I completely agree with you on everything. Thanks for sharing Cait, and, as always, BRILLIANT post! <3

Fantastic post as always, and I couldn’t agree more. It shouldn’t be a competition about who can be the biggest fan, surely there’s enough love to go around for everyone! I mean, I have SO MUCH LOVE for so many books but that doesn’t mean I’m the biggest fan of all time. And I read so fast that sometimes I miss things, so I don’t remember every little thing that happens. I’ve done this with Harry Potter, I read the books so fast when they were released that I had to read them again the next day to take it all in. Even now when I read them, I still pick up new things because my brain can’t seem to keep all the facts in (but I can’t seem to forget the lyrics to every Backstreet Boys song known to man). That doesn’t make me a lesser fan, it makes me normal.

Exactly! I have literally SO MUCH LOVE for certain fandoms…but I don’t feel like I can match up to the fanatics. o.O Which is mildly disappointing for me. But this means I’m normal, right? XD I was SO into the Rangers Apprentice, but now? I don’t remember many of the juicy tidbits or the funny quotes or…anything. *sigh*

Oh my gosh! I misspelled an author’s name in my review and then tweeted her. I was so embarrassed! I’m not a great ‘fan’ either when it comes down to memorizing facts or naming things off the cuff. When I’m put on the spot I shut down. Once I couldn’t even remember my neighborhood name when asked by a new friend. I felt so ditzy. I just figure that I don’t have enough room in my brain to keep that stuff easily accessible. I have intense love for my favorite books, shows, movies but I can’t hold my own in a fan-off. Great post once again 🙂

I misspelled a book and tweeted the author! SO EMBARASSING. But I think I tweeted that my favourite author was “Suzan Collins” at one stage…*dies* I AM SUCH A BAD FAN. >.< (And I can’t remember my phone number or street address half the time. Or postcode. IT GETS SO BAD. I swear I’m mostly normal….)

I wrote a long comment and it died. T_T Anyway, when I was first reading this I had my WTF face on. After reading it, I would like to thank you for writing this, Cait. I ALWAYS forget what happens in a book, usually a few hours after reading. And it sucks especially when there’s a year in between it and its sequel coming out! I have a classmate who thinks she’s the “ultimate HP fan” or something. *rolls eyes* I hate how she thinks she’s the only one who likes Neville, or that she’s the only one who cried over Snape. Just–yeah. For me, as long as you’ve appreciated the work put by an author into his/her work, you’re a fan. And there is no “better” fan. =)

Noooo….don’t you hate it when comments die?!! Makes me SO frustrated. So I totally appreciate you re-commenting. 😉 You’re so awesome.HA. I got Mime to proofread it and at the beginning she was like, “What the…” and I’m like “SHHH AND KEEP READING.” So naturally I was a teensy bit nervous about posting it, lol…but I’m sooooo glad everyone likes it! And, gosh, frustrating “fans”, right? I really really like Harry Potter. Buuuut, I’ve only read 3 books and only THIS YEAR, so I didn’t even grow up with them. I feel like I’m not much of a fan at all then. o.O

Haha, I think I’m a pretty sorry excuse for a fan too 😀 I do remember The Story (well, most of the time) but character names tend to escape my mind. And I never, never seem to remember things like eye/hair color or height. I have a few fandoms, but I don’t think I’m as passionate about them as some others seems to be (like I have never written fanfiction and I rarely buy merchandise items) But I never wanted to be a Number One Fan either, so that’s fine. I’ll just continue to fangirl on my – not so loud – way 🙂

Hair/eye colour YES. I can’t…nope. Not for the life of me. I haven’t written fanfic either. And I kind of do want to be a huge fan, because it’s fun getting passionate about stuff, buuuut I just can’t compete with the Ultimate Fans out there! Fangirling quietly FTW, though, right?! x)

People take their fandom s very seriously, especially on Tumblr. I’ve seen the Doctor Who fandom out in full force and it was scary. Supernatural is big. Also, HP, which I’m happily apart of. We generally poke our heads out for Harry’s birthday, Christmas, and D-Day.

Randoms can be a blessing and a curse. It’s great because you find “your people” who care just as much as you do about a similar interest. But if large gatherings have taught us one thing, people can get cliquish, and borderline cultish, even within their own group. Once you begin discussing tin foil theories and spoilers, you enter dangerous territory. I just sit on the sidelines, as Hufflepuffs do, and silently judge you all. 🙂

*raises hand guiltly* Supernatural fan here. HUGE fan. Although, I can’t feel really dedicated because I haven’t watched it all or all the makings/extras. >.> Borderline cultish! Haha! XD I love fandoms. I love finding people to squee over the same stuff I squee over. I just don’t like feeling inferior, because I’m “new” or whatnot.

WIN FOR MOI. I like to make people laugh. 😉 I don’t remember books hardly at all. *sigh* It is REALLY hard to read series. I kind of live on the Recaptains blog because series…in one ear and out the other.

Love it!!:) I hate it when people tell me I’m not a true fan of Harry Potter, or the Chronicles of Narnia, or several other series just because I never read them all. I’ve also been told I’m not a true fan just because I didn’t like a certain character. I hated Finnick and Johanna in Catching Fire when I read the books. Once my friend’s finally read it they told me I couldn’t possibly be as big a fan of THG as them because I didn’t like them in Catching Fire even though I loved them in Mockingjay. When it comes down to it, if you love the series, be it movies or books, you’re a fan.

WHAT? YOU HATED FINNICK. *throws fish at you*Haaa. I’m JOKING. I totally understand what you mean! And it sucks when you have a “different opinion” in a fandom. Like you ship the “wrong” couple or something. And then everyone kind of boycotts you. AWKWARD.

I begun reviewing books so I can remember them. When you read that many books, some tend to blur into others. I honestly don’t understand the whole fangirl thing, I don’t know if it’s because I’m classed as a mature aged YA reader (considering I’m mid 30’s), but apart from Warner and THE MOTH, I don’t think I tend to really keep tabs on any characters. I can understand the passion though, which seems to be the same thing really. You’re a brilliant advocate for books 🙂

Me too!! I got a goodreads for that specific reason. And I just found a notebook of all these super old reviews I used to write before I even knew the internet of awesome offered things like blogging. x)Aw, come now, we know your dedication for The Moth. You’re really keeping yourself for just TWO literary deliciousnesses? You are very very reserved. I have a…*cough* few more.*rolls out list*

Well I am really happy that I am not the only one who forgets all the little details that other people OBSESS over! I read a lot of books so I think it’s kind of fair and expected that you can’t remember every little detail. I have read all 7 HP books more times than I can count but I still forget small details and obscure characters that others remember. I hate when people try to pull the ‘I’m the biggest fan’ ever crap, it can get very annoying and just seems petty. You can be a fan whether you have followed the series since the first book or you’ve just started reading a trilogy now that’s it’s being made into a movie. I do try to avoid all those kinds of arguments, but I probably would have a Whoomp, there it is moment if someone said they loved The Hunger Games but didn’t know who Madge was 😉

DETAILS? WHAT DETAILS? Bah. I barely remember character’s names…or what the plot was. What I DO remember is funny lines…but that doesn’t really help when you’re trying to write a coherent review, right?! x) We are both still fans anyway, though. GO US. I would probably have a Whoomp moment too, yes. Although, to be fair, Madge wasn’t a particularly stunning character. She was…there. And interesting. But I get why they left her out anyway.

Wonderful post. Admittedly, I am not obsessed about any of my fandoms (except maybe Lord of the Rings, but even then, it’s not like I’ve learned Elvish. I haven’t even read The Silmarillion.)As far as being a Nerdfighter goes, I’m reluctant to call myself one, too. Mainly because I haven’t read John Green’s books. I’ve tried and I just don’t care for them. But I don’t care for a lot of contemporary YA.

LOL omg I love this post so much, so true! I feel sometimes like I’m a bad book blogger because after so many months of reading other books I often forget details – and even endings of some books. I think the one ups-manship is ridiculous and totally petty!

I also love the header on your blog, it makes me smile 😀 is it a new design or have I just been oblivious?!

I’ve actually just started noticing all this crazy, fandom stuff. Instagram opened my eyes to it because there’re accounts dedicated to ONE specific book, movie or character/person. It’s crazy, and the competitiveness is beyond stupid.

I mean, fandoms are great because it gives you the chance to gush with other’s who also feel fanatic about the same things! Why should we compete with who knows more, or who’s more fanatic, when we can just enjoy the feelings it gives us?

I’m totally guilty for forgetting characters in books I love – I also don’t own a single book fandom Tee shirt or another bookish thing besides the books themselves (book shelves and marks included). I am considering a tattoo, though. There are some books that actually mean something to me because they explore and share a message that I want to remember. I don’t consider that fangirling, though. It’s a more moral, personal thing.

Great post! I was actually super impressed by all the facts in the beginning, I didn’t know about 90% of those! Anyways, I agree. This is something you really see on Tumblr a lot, because there are so many dedicated fan blogs. Time and time again I see “I’m a better fan than you because my Tumblr has more followers” D: There shouldn’t be ranking of fans, anyway. A person who likes/appreciates something is a person who likes/appreciates something. There shouldn’t be a contest!

Yes! This is perfect! I read another post about this lately and both have really set me thinking about the topic. I’ve watched a few Vlogbrothers videos and I like to call myself a fan, but then people are like ” oh did you like [insert video here]?” It’s awkward because then I feel like I lied about being a fan. True story. I’m rambling now. Bye.

This is pretty much the main reason why I am super scared of fandoms sometimes (and Tumblr, too!) because it’s like everything is a competition over there. Some fandoms even fight with other fandoms and make it personal D: Duuuude that’s scary as hell, and I don’t want any of it! Of course, that’s not to say all of them are bad, but just a few apples are enough to make you want to stay away from it. That’s some serious drama we don’t need haha.

You haven't learned Elvish? Seriously, Robyn, what's wrong with you?x)I've read 3 John Green books (and loved them) but I haven't watched a lot of the vlogs. I think they're hilarious, buuuut, I just don't really watch a lot of YouTube. >.< But I still ADORE the fandom.

Love, love, LOVE this post! I think the pressure to be a "better" fan takes the fun out of the whole thing and makes a great hobby a stressful affair. I can maybe understand those who get frustrated when someone says they love The Hunger Games and you ask, "are you team Peeta or Gale?" and they say, "who?" (this actually happened with someone who went on and on about how much they loved the books), but the minor aspects and elements and deeper layers probably are forgotten over time, and that's ok! I have to work, and do other grown up things (unfortunately) and you know, actually talk to people in the real world, if I could make fandoms my full-time job I'd be landed, but I can't. I think all hobbies have die-hards, and fair play to them, it's the same with music and other interests. Great post 🙂 R x

Admit to being a bad fan too! Oh, and I watched Inkheart and I still haven't read the book, even though I love the movie 😀 Most of the time I have to read my review of the previous book to remember what happened. This is worse though, I took Hidden (Marianne Curley) out and skimmed the entire book before I remembered what it was about so I could read Broken……haha I think we are all kind of competing on who is the worst fan without even realizing it… oops yet this is an ok way, because we aren't exactly taking it seriously. Or maybe it's just me noticing it? Oh well!!

Duuude, I AM A MORE WORSE FAN THAN YOU. x) Oh, gosh, that is quite hilarious. But I feel totally fortified in my bad-fan-ness right now! I'm not alone! XDAnd I'm hopeless about reading series. I literally forget the ending of a book 10 seconds after I put it down. I have to write my reviews within the hour or nope. Gone.

Love this post 🙂 I pretty much detached from the whole 'fan' thing. I love reading a good book, but I don't care to go past that. I have no desire to ever meet a favorite author in real life, to write fan fiction or to even go to book events/conventions. I like to read a book, maybe write a review about it, and then move on to the next book!

Fair enough! And we're all completely different, which is awesome, I reckon. 😉 I'm very happy to fangirl, in fact, I do it like 98% of the time. I just….I don't feel very dedicated. And my affections flick. I'm rarely infatuated with more than one fandom at a time.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately–fandom and fan-shaming and communities. People get to decide what they're fans of. Communities, by nature, are a bit exclusive–you're a part of this community, or your not. And for fan communities, it should just be if you consider yourself a fan. I mean, I'm not a fan of the Avengers because I don't read comics and I've never seen a superhero movie. But say I only watched the movie, and called myself a fan. *I* get to decide if I'm a fan or not. Some fans build too many barriers around their fandoms, but then again–they don't own it. They just own their own love for it.

Too true! And building off what you said, I think YOU know if you're a "fan" if you want more. I think that's a big part of it. Maybe I don't have time to read more John Green…I'm busy. But I love what I've read and I want to read more eventually, and I'm super excited about the fandom, juuust not ALL the time. I'm still a fan. XD

I do love to battle with a fellow fan of something… well especially if they are a fan because they "watched the movie". I will be all like… huh " well in the book:" I am just guilty of it OK… really it's because I am a reader and they are not. 😉

Hehe, I was mostly kidding about the tattoos. I'm so allergic to pain, honestly, I just can't even…nope. x) But I agree! I have NO idea how people can be so so so intense in the fandoms. I LOVE fandoms, but I find it emotionally exhausting and I wax and wane for how interested I am. I can't imagine that being my life 24/7.

Oh, I know what you mean! I feel like saying Don't Forget To Be Awesome! Aaaand, then I lose courage and slink away, remembering how I haven't even read ALL John Green's books and how can I call myself a proper fan?

I keep thinking I want to get on Tumblr…and then I get scared and retreat. >.< I think it's awfully weird how fandoms fight about who's the BEST fandom. Most fandoms are completely different…buuuut, that's another story. x)

I can SO relate to this! I'm a horrible fan.I mis-quote books and movies all the time.I've watched movies before I read the books. Heck, sometimes I even liked the movie better! I depends on the book/movie.It's best if I wait until an entire book series is published because if I start reading them while the author is still writing the sequels, I'll forget the most important parts and have to re-read the entire thing all over again! I still haven't read "Inheritance" in the Eragon series yet because of that :PEvery person has a different opinion of different fandoms. Twilight for example. I liked the books but I didn't like the movies so much (although they did a better job with the last one…) Most of the people I've met and talked about it with didn't like it at all. Most of them hadn't actually read it though, which I thought was ironic because they certainly had an opinion about it 😛 *sigh* People.

A fan is fan. I don't even care if you think you're better than me. I am a fan. Period. I do agree that it's very petty to compete with someone else as the better fan. I mean, c'mon! If I had eidetic memory, I'd compete with you all and recite a book word for word! Some people are just silly for thinking they are better. I think that some people are just more passionate 😉

Johana…. *googles Johanna from Divergent, lol* I'm the same as you. Most books tend to blur into one another as I keep reading. I mean, I know the general plot, and a few key details, but I sometimes forget very important things. Even if I love the book! That doesn't mean I'm not a true or real enough fan. It's ridiculous to compare each other. So what if they know more names than you? That doesn't mean anything! What are they going to do? Revoke your fangirl status because you haven't watched EVERY SINGLE vlog brothers video? Oh, bother.

This is so, so true! Yep, I am brain fried! Even when writing a review of a book I read like, two days before, I will forget character names completely. Or plot points. I will just blank stare at the screen like "but… she was the main character… you know, what's-her-face". I admit to being a pretty hard core Hunger Games fan, but I have no idea if I am more or less obsessed than anyone else. Oh- and I totally want a Mockingjay tattoo, but does that make me a "better" fan? Nope. It makes you seem like the more rational human being, actually 😉 And seriously, how can someone be a "better" fan anyway? That is so ridiculously subjective. Such a great post!

Yaaay, I am not the only one. I'm always forgetting every not so much relevant smidgens and I feel such a bad fan for it. (I love The Mortal Instruments, but I believed Jace had brown hair for years *choking on a coughing fit*.) I keep wondering how others can remember all the eye colors and smaller events and so I'm often like "Did this happened?" *rapidly turning pages of mentioned book*. So yeah, that's just me. Anyway, I hate when people state they are better fans. There is nothing like that. Everybody who likes a book are fans equally whether they can remember XY's height or not. Instead of hurting one another's feeling we could like share the knowledge? I think that would be nice. 🙂